Those people are, yes. But most of the younger people in Vientiane aren't Lao anymore. Most of the older folk are Lao. But when they die, there will be no more Lao people left in Vientiane. In other parts of Laos there will still be some Lao people. Globalization and American capitalism have cast their malignant seeds to the wind to be blown along with the breezes, planting themselves in the dirt around this world and invading the brains of many young children . Those born out of the seed of capitalist slavery and globalism cannot be considered Lao.

A cat in a mask is still a cat..It's the same concept as North vs. South Korea. Neither of them are true Koreans because the North had its culture demolished by the Soviets and the South was demolished by America. The only real Koreans lived a long time ago.

If you want a farm girl then you have to be willing to live in Laos. An ancient Irish proverb goes something like this "You marry a mountain girl and you marry the entire mountain" Lao is a mountainous country and it would be cruel to your future wife and her family to take her away from her family to a degenerate society like the United States.

It is a shame what is happening and your post about globalization was beautifully stated. North Korea, however, has still maintained much of authentic Korean culture. The next Asian country on the chopping block is the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Thankfully, travel to the Shan states is severely restricted so we will have a pure Tai people for at least a few more years to come.

Also most Lao are still authentically Lao. Spend some more time in the countryside dude. The only invasion into their sphere of Lao-ness is perhaps Thai media.

That said, my Katu friends are worried about the up and coming generation. Apparently a lack of warfare has made the new generation of Katu lazy and complacent and most no longer spend years and years methodically studying hand to hand combat, strength conditioning, and black magic.